There are always going to be situations when Public WI-FI is the only option, but you should understand there are several things you can do to protect yourself, while using it.

1. Use your cellphone as a mobile hotspot.

As mentioned earlier, if you have an unlimited cellular data plan, and have a good cellular signal, you can avoid the many risks of public WI-FI by transforming your cellphone into a mobile hotspot and connecting any devices that lack cellular data (laptop, i-pad, etc.) to your cell phone.

2. Don’t perform sensitivity tasks over Public WI-FI

Do NOT bank online, shop online, or access medical records online while using a public WI-FI connection. Consider not logging into anything that requires you to type a password.

3. Don’t reset passwords when using Public WI-FI

You should avoid resetting any passwords over public WI-FI. In fact, for the reasons mentioned previously about cameras and people seeing what you are doing, you should refrain from resetting your passwords while in any public location.

4. Use a VPN Service

If you can’t use a cellular connection and must use the public WI-FI connection for a sensitive task, at least consider using a VPN service, which adds multiple security benefits.

5. Use Tor

If you don’t want your browsing history to be tracked by anyone, consider browsing using Tor, which bounces your communications through many servers and makes tracking exceedingly difficult. There are even Tor browsers for smartphones.